»05/28/2007ISRAELMinisterial committee calls for ban on Gay pride in JerusalemDraft bill proposal is approved and ready for Knesset vote. It would grant Jerusalem City Council the power to ban public gatherings deemed dangerous for public order or offensive to religious sentiments.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – A ministerial committee approved a bill to ban the gay pride parade. The Ministers Committee for Legislation voted on Sunday in favour of a bill that would give Jerusalem city council power to ban next month’s gay pride parade. The draft legislation is to go before the Knesset on Wednesday.

Religious parties and Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann are pushing for this legislation. Under the new law it would be more difficult for gay groups to hold their annual gay pride parade in Jerusalem. The city's municipal council would be invested with enough power to reject public gatherings it deemed a danger to public security or offensive to the feelings of the religious public.

Four ministers voted in favour of a Knesset vote on the bill while three opposed the move.

Last year the annual Gay pride parade had led to strong tensions in the city as a result of opposition by religious leaders.

Protests turned in some cases into violent clashes with the police in the days leading up to the event.

A solution was found when the parade was allowed to take place on November 10 in Jerusalem’s Hebrew University stadium.

EGYPT - ISLAMWhat Tayeb and Sisi said is big step towards a revolution in Islamby Samir Khalil SamirThe grand imam of Al-Azhar slammed literalist interpretations of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, as fundamentalists and Islamic terrorists do. He supports the urgent need for Islam's reform, especially in terms of teaching lay people and clerics. He also calls for an end to mutual excommunication (takfir) between Sunnis and Shias. Egyptian President al-Sisi chose to fight the Islamic state group after it beheaded 21 Coptic Christians, whom he called "Egyptian citizens" with full rights.

SAUDI ARABIA - ISLAMFor head of Al-Azhar, religious education reform is needed to stop Islamic extremismFor Ahmed al-Tayeb, it is urgent to come up with new educational programmes to avoid "corrupt interpretations" of the Qur'an and Sunnah. Islamic terrorism undermines the unity of the Muslim world. He blames Mideast tensions on a "new global colonialism allied to world Zionism". a speech by the Saudi king is read at the conference.